June 2013

Bond Investment Risks

“Risk control is the best route to loss avoidance. Risk avoidance, on the other hand, is likely to lead to return avoidance as well.” – Howard Marks The main risk most investors worry about in their portfolio comes from stock investments. Stocks can be volatile, especially in the short-term, and they run the risk of…

Simple or Complex Investments?

“Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas.” – Paul Samuelson Wall Street has made plenty of money over the years pushing complex investment strategies with high fees on their unsuspecting clients. Most of these investments fail to beat simple…

How Do I Pay For My Children’s College Tuition?

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” – Albert Einstein Common sense reader mailbag: I have two young children. How will I ever be able to afford to send them both to college? Obviously, with the high cost of tuition and the amount of student loans that younger generations…

Why Bother Investing in Bonds?

“In spite of promising lower returns than most other investment classes, bonds earn inclusion in portfolios by providing protection against the extraordinary circumstances of a financial crisis or economic deflation.” – David Swensen If you missed Part 1 of my common sense series on bonds please read Investing in Bonds to learn about the different…

What Are You Focusing On?

“Until you can manage your emotions, don’t expect to manage money.” – Warren Buffett Managing your finances can be challenging for a number of reasons. One of the biggest ones is that there seem to be thousands and thousands of variables that we have to consider. I have discussed staying in your lane or focusing…